GULĀB RĀI and his brother Shyām Siṅgh, sons of Dīp Chand, grandsons of Sūraj Mall and great-grandsons of Gurū Hargobind, resided with Gurū Gobind Siṅgh (1666-1708) at Anandpur. At the time of the evacuation of Anandpur in 1705, the Gurū sent them with a letter of introduction to the Rājā of Nāhan, who gave them a village for their maintenance. When the situation so permitted, they returned to Anandpur, Gulāb Rāi purchasing the town from the Rājā of Bilāspur. Gulāb Rāi restored the place to its former position as a centre of Sikh faith, but he started pretending to be the Gurū. Sitting at the place where Gurū Gobind Siṅgh used to sit with the saṅgat, he accepted obeisance and offerings of the devotees. Gurbakhsh Udāsī, whom Gurū Gobind Siṅgh had left behind in Anandpur to look after the shrines and who was now staying at the one sacred to Gurū Tegh Bahādur, taxed him in vain with heresy and, according to Bhāī Santokh Siṅgh, Srī Gur Pratāp Sūraj Granth, cursed him with the discontinuance of his line. Gulāb Rāi's four sons predeceased him and he himself died of grief. His wife managed the gaddī or seat for some time but soon died having bequeathed the gaddī to Surjan Siṅgh (d. 1815), a grandson of Shyām Siṅgh.